2. The Independent body, as its name implies, permits the widest divergence of creed among the churches which compose it, and the absence of anything more than local standards of doctrine and discipline has thus prevented formal secessions. At the present time there are very few churches which do not belong to the Congregational Union; but the Independent Unionists, the Testimony Congregational Church, and the Union Congregationalists are registered as distinct religious organisations, and there are other direct or indirect offshoots of some Independent Church. 3. Presbyterianism, of course, is not English; but in Scotland, its home, it has long been a house divided against itself. Besides the three main bodies-the Established Church, the Free Church, and the United Presbyterian Church-there are several small divisions, and the Free Church has quite recently had a narrow escape of a secession which must have shaken it to the very foundations. In England and Wales Presbyterianism is represented by the following denominations : The Church of Scotland. The Presbyterian Church of England. The United Presbyterians. The Welsh Free Presbyterians. The Calvinistic and Welsh Calvinists. - 4. Even the Society of Friends has not had a career of unbroken peace. In 1695 the expulsion of George Keith for holding erroneous views on the human nature of our Lord led to the formation of a short-lived sect known as Keithians. A schism led by Hannah Barnard took place in Ireland at the end of the last century, and involved the whole Society in the dispute. About 1820 occurred the outbreak of 'New Lights' or Ranters in New England. This was soon followed by the Hicksian' or Unitarian schism in Philadelphia. The followers of Elias Hicks are now the most numerous section of the American Quakers, and are practically Unitarian in their belief. They are not recognised by the English Friends. The Hicksian schism was followed by the 'Beacon' schism, the promoters of which, in their horror at the views of Hicks, went to the other extreme. The years 1835-40 saw the rise of 'Gurneyism,' which turned upon the truth of the teachings of an English Quaker, Joseph John Gurney. He was charged with unduly exalting the authority of the Scriptures, and the dispute caused great distress among the Friends both here and in the United States. 5. The history of Methodism since the death of John Wesley is marked by an astonishing series of internal disagreements and consequent secessions. The earliest. dispute took place in 1797, and resulted from the unsuccessful efforts made under the leadership of Alexander Kilham to obtain for the congregation greater control over the services and ministers. The reformers banded themselves together as the Methodist New Connexion. In 1810, a controversy arose on the subject of campmeetings, a form of religious revival common in America, which Hugh Bourne, a layman, encouraged in this country. Bourne was expelled by the Burslem Quarterly Meeting, and his sympathisers formed themselves into the Primitive Methodists. The Bible Christians sprang up five years later under William Bryan, a Cornish local preacher; the Protestant Methodists seceded in 1828; the Wesleyan Methodist Association was the result of a quarrel between Dr. Samuel Warren and the Conference in 1835; and the Wesleyan Methodist Reformers broke off in 1849 to mark their dissent from the treatment of Jabez Bunting by the Conference. The two latter bodies joined together in 1857 as the United Methodist Free Churches, but a minority refused to amalgamate and now constitute the Wesleyan Reform Union. The subjoined list will give some idea of the varieties of Methodist teaching and practice in this country alone: Benevolent Methodists. Bible Christians. Free Methodists. Independent Methodists. Methodist Reform Union. Modern Methodists. New Connexion Methodists. New Methodists. Primitive Methodists. Refuge Methodists. Reformed Free Church Wesleyan Methodists. Temperance Methodists. United Methodist Free Church. Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. Welsh Wesleyan Methodists. Wesleyans. Wesleyan Methodist Association. Wesleyan Reformers. Wesleyan Reform Glory Band. There are very many sects in the Registrar-General's list which are offshoots of one or more of the larger Nonconformist churches rather than of the Established Church; but the following names would seem to indicate that within the last few years there have been people whose religious resting-place is somewhere between the Church of England and the more pronounced forms of Dissent : The Anglican Church. The Reformed Church of England. The Reformed Episcopal Church. II. Each local congregation of the Baptist and Independent bodies has a separate autonomy; whereas among the Presbyterians, Quakers, and Methodists, there are, as it were, a tribunal of first instance, a superior court, and a court of final appeal, forming an ascending gradation of authority. It has already been mentioned that among the Baptists there are many unattached congregations acknowledging no sort of visible communion with any other religious organisation. In one sense the same is true of the Independents, though the Congregational Union is a very comprehensive federation on very liberal lines. But with both the Baptists and Independents each individual church is complete in itself, and all external associations are quite gratuitous. Each local church chooses its own minister, regulates the admission of members, manages its own business, disposes of its own disputes; a pure democracy is the very essence of its existence. 1. The Baptist Union is an alliance of the representatives of Baptist congregations. It recognises that every Baptist church in connection with the Baptist Union has liberty to interpret and administer the laws of Christ, and it insists that the immersion of believers is the only Christian baptism. The Assembly meets twice a year in the spring in London, and in the autumn in the country-and consists of three classes of delegates-representative, comprising ministers of churches, the heads and tutors of theological colleges, and delegates from churches, associations, and societies; personal, consisting of members of churches who, being Baptists, shall have been duly accredited in writing by at least three members of the Assembly and accepted by the Committee; and honorary, being persons admitted by resolution of the Assembly on the special nomination of the Committee. The meetings of the Assembly are deliberative, and are only administrative in so far as the management of essentially Union affairs is concerned: the Assembly has no sort of jurisdiction over the congregations whose delegates compose it. Its general aims are to promote love for all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, to afford to its members opportunities for conference and expression of opinion, to assist joint action in questions affecting the welfare and extension of the denomination, to co-operate with other Christian communities, and to maintain the right of all men everywhere to freedom from disadvantage, restraint, and taxation in matters purely religious. In addition to the Baptist Union, which was founded in 1864, there are 33 local associations in England, and 9 in Wales. These are constituted mainly on a geographical basis, the Norfolk Association dating from 1663; but the General Baptist Association, which has existed since 1770, includes congregations in all parts of the country. The local associations are simply deliberative bodies meeting from time to time for the discussion of religious and social questions. 2. The Congregational Union, too, recognises the right of every individual church to administer its affairs free from external control, and in no case assumes for itself |